Waiting for Rain: Reflections at the Turning of the Year - Hardcover

Levy, Bryna Jocheved

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0827608411 ISBN 13: 9780827608412

Publisher: JEWISH PUBLICATON SOCIETY, 2008

Synopsis

In Israel, the High Holiday cycle marks the transition from summer to the rainy season.

In Waiting for Rain, the acclaimed teacher Bryna Levy offers a compelling collection of meditations that examine the biblical and liturgical readings associated with the High Holidays, from Rosh Hashanah to Simhat Torah. Based on a series of lectures given in Jerusalem at Matan - the Women’s Institute for Torah Studies, and known as “The Hoshana Rabbah Lectures,” Levy’s readings of the traditional texts echo the natural and spiritual tenor of this season.

Waiting for Rain joins the field of biblical interpretation known as parshanut ha-mikrah. It offers fresh insights into traditional rabbinic interpretation, together with the author’s perspective as a modern Orthodox woman bible scholar. Levy explores the psyches of the biblical characters and addresses issues such as our connectedness to others, the tragedy of wasted opportunity, confronting evil, the denial of death, faith and doubt, personal and communal responsibility, universalism versus particularism, the challenge of leadership, sin and atonement, and the efficacy of prayer. The result is a highly personal approach to the meaning of the High Holidays that resonates with our own modern lives. Stories about heroes and heroines, love, faith, hope, and dreams make this book a moving and engaging source for study and reflection as well as an excellent companion to the traditional High Holiday prayer services. To read more about Bryna Jocheved Levy and her work, visit her website.

About this title

From the Inside Flap

Waiting for Rain Reflections at the Turning of the Year Bryna Jocheved Levy

A book of Torah commentary, Waiting for Rain inspires readers by taking a fresh look at the traditional text. The volume grew from a series of lectures Levy gives in Jerusalem each fall, in which she joins insights from contemporary biblical scholarship and literary studies with her own perspective as a modern Orthodox female Bible scholar.

Examining the liturgical and biblical readings associated with the High Holy Days, Levy explores the psyches of biblical characters and addresses issues such as: our connectedness to others; the tragedy of wasted opportunity; confronting evil; the denial of death; faith and doubt; personal and communal responsibility; universalism versus particularism; the challenge of leadership; sin and atonement; and the efficacy of prayer.

The result is a compelling and enlightening companion to the High Holy Days cycle.

Bryna Jocheved Levy is a senior lecturer in Bible at Matan, The Women's Institute for Torah Studies, where she is also the founder and director of the graduate program in Bible, a joint program with Hebrew University. Levy has a master's degree in biblical interpretation from McGill University and, in 1987, was the first woman to be awarded a Ph.D. in Bible from Yeshiva University.

Surveying the parched earth at the end of a long, dry summer, the farmer waits for rain, as did his predecessors, who tilled the same fields before him. The cisterns are empty and the springs have ceased to flow; throats are dry and voices are muted. The season is replete with expectancy and yearning, with the hope for rain that is the hope for life. It is a time of reflecting on the past harvest gathered in, and anticipating harvests that may come. It is a moment poised on the edge of eternity. - From the Preface

In Israel the High Holy Day cycle marks the transition from summer to the rainy season. In Waiting for Rain acclaimed Bible teacher Bryna Levy offers a compelling collection of meditations that examine the biblical and liturgical readings associated with these holidays. Integrating contemporary biblical scholarship and literary studies with fresh readings of traditional medieval and Rabbinic interpretation, Levy's insights will illuminate and inspire. Stories about heroes and heroines, love, faith, hope, and dreams make Waiting for Rain a moving and engaging source for study and reflection.

Edition details

• Publisher: JEWISH PUBLICATON SOCIETY
• Publication date: 2008
• ISBN 10: 0827608411
• ISBN 13: 9780827608412
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 300